Ölbeat 300: Stigbergets Amazing Haze

Brewery: Stigbergets Bryggeri (in Swedish)
Country: Sweden
Style: India Pale Ale
Abv: 6,5 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is hazy juicy yellow with a two-finger thick white head. Aroma has orange, mango, lemon, pineapple and all the other fruits in the world - dangerously luring stuff. Taste starts with super-fruity citrus bitterness. Fresh lemon-orange juice with bitter grapefruity and resinous notes takes over. Towards the end bitter grapefruit and sweet orange get on top. Aftertaste has sweet-sour-bitter citrus and some spicy piny dryness.

Now we have reached the extreme citrus of India Pale Ale. Probably some true and trending Vermont style stuff here. Fruit leads beautifully, pine and bitterness follow in harmony. Damn, this is delicious from opening the bottle to the last sip. Best spent 33 Swedish crowns of my life.

Ölbeat

#300. Never thought it'd get this far. But since we're already here, why stop? Let's listen some music and then continue this neverending sleepwalk on deep waters.

Jimi Hendrix: Purple Haze (YouTube)

From the 1967 album Are You Experienced, the song was written by Jimi Hendrix.

Iron Maiden: Wasted Years (YouTube)

From the 1986 album Somewhere in Time, the song was written by Adrian Smith.

Ölbeat 273: Vaat Blimey!

Brewery: Vaat
Country: Estonia
Style: Imperial IPA
Abv: 7,5 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is white-flaky hazy orange with a large white head. Aroma has a straight flush of citrus - lemon, grapefruit and orange - with piny and fruity drops. Taste begins with piny bitter grapefruit. Bitter grapefruit-lemon juice with citrus peel and spicy pine takes over. Towards the end sweet orange-mango juice gets through to the pine-grapefruit mix. Aftertaste has freshly bitter grapefruit, tart lemon and dry pine.

Fresh citrus-packed Double IPA. A very good one, though I don't believe this to belong to the sub-style of New England/Vermont IPA's: there's a fine amount of unshamed bitterness, especially in the finish. Rich in fruits, pine and bitterness. Delicious.

Ölbeat

Thought of bitter and fruity. Thought of Jimi Hendrix. Picked one song.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience: The Wind Cries Mary (DailyMotion)

From the 1967 album Are You Experienced, the song was written by Jimi Hendrix.

Ölmönger Special: Sober June 2017 - Diary, Part III, Days 11-17

Life goes on. The saga continues. And blah blah blah.

It's not any kind of ale as we all know.

Day 11

Spent the Sunday morning watching my son play in a small soccer tournament. Kinda showed the state of Finnish soccer. The only difference here was that today's players were 4-6 year old boys and girls, the general picture is about adult men. The game looked exactly the same.

Otherwise the day went by so quickly that it seems to have vanished into thin air. Cleaning the house, paying some bills, some family time, watering the trees. Watering the trees? Jesus. June without a drop of beer or any other kind of alcohol starts to have some serious side effects.

Craving for a beer: 4

Day 12

Tonight it was a grill 'n' chill evening with a friend couple and their family. Also it was the first clear chance to slip from the principle. The dude had received good news about getting a new job earlier on the day. So on the way home I picked a bottle of sparkling wine. But I didn't slip - toasted with a mix of ice tea and 7Up. Wasn't hard at all to deny myself the option of some Asti - sweet wines aren't my thing.

Today I realized one thing more clearly than before. The nearest Finnish monopoly i.e. Alko store lies by my direct daily route to work. When the dry month is over, I might get tempted to make a visit and check what's new on my way home a little too often.

Craving for a beer: 3 (and only because visited Alko)

Luckily this is not my lawn to mow.

Day 13

Lesson 1: A good night's sleep is rather to ruin by eating too much grill 'n' chill leftovers during the day. Makes you feel fluffy - in the bad way.

Lesson 2: After heavy eating it's not too clever to go running for the rest of the day. Even though the feeling right after the run would be great, you'll feel pretty bad afterwards. Nevertheless I think the run was good for the body.

Lesson 3: If you do what you're told to avoid in lessons 1 and 2, there's absolutely no craving for beer during the day. Even though brought the Old Numbskull with a couple of friends home today.

Craving for a beer: 1

Day 14

Started with a slow and tired day at the office. The day was sunny and warm, so being at work wasn't the best way to spend the first hours awake. The good thing was - and usually is - the 5-kilometer bicycle ride in the morning there and another back home.

At home it was mowing a part of the lawn and some laundry work. Boring. Had a strange headache all through the day. Should sleep more.

Craving for a beer: 1

One landscape from my asylum

Day 15

Halfway through the challenge. Preparing for next week's family holiday - some packing, some laundry work. It seems that this week I haven't had time or I have been too tired to think about beer or not having one for half a month. Strange.

Craving for a beer: 2

Day 16

Off for a week's holiday. Have been in the new office for a month now. Since the desk there is a height-adjustable one, haven't spent a minute sitting at it. Standing for most of the day starts to take its toll now. Both my legs and my feet are killing me.

The week will mostly be spent with the family. Something special to come but you'll read about it later.

Craving for a beer: 3 (and only because it is Friday)

The instruments of perfection

Day 17

Saturday. Left with wife and kids too see my parents in the countryside. Actually met my brothers and their kids, too. The Grandparents' residence - an old school - has become some kind of asylum or sanctuary to me. Sounds of nature. Fresh air. Room for wandering around and being perfectly still. The best sauna in the world. The Silence.

Excellent place to stop for a day and a night before hitting the road tomorrow. Usually here I cork a bottle or two. Today I corked one bottle of champagne for the others - a late celebration - and settled for some Schweppes.

Craving for a beer: 3 (and only because people around me were opening beer cans)

Ölbeat

There's nothing to worry about. It's just a great song that's hard to match with any good beer.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Manic Depression (DailyMotion)

From the 1967 album Are You Experienced, the song was written by Jimi Hendrix.

Ölbeat 259: Ôllenaut Turbahunt

Brewery: Õllenaut (in Estonian)
Country: Estonia
Style: Smoked Ale
Abv: 11,2 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is copper brown with no visible head. Aroma has peaty smoke, smoked meat and sweet malts. Taste starts with heavily peated bitterness. Strong peated meaty smoke with caramel malts takes over. Towards the end smoke and sweetness are accompanied by gentle fruity bitterness. Aftertaste has sweet malty smoke and bitter fruits.

Seriously and heavily peated Smoked Ale. Behind the foggy curtain there's a solid malty brew. Fruits and bitterness hop along from the last station. Superb strong-flavoured stuff from the Estonian peat hounds.

Ölbeat

Of course, there sometimes is smoke without the fire. However, in this case we surely get both. Since the brew is kinda wild stuff, I had to look for an artist with the same kind of quality. The search didn't last long - the only reasonable "opponent" was Thin Lizzy. Philo and the gang will get their sound heard later, for sure.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Fire (Vimeo, Live)

From the 1967 album Are You Experienced, the song was written by Jimi Hendrix.

Ölbeat 167: The Flying Dutchman Strong Minded Brave Hearted Bold As Love India Pale Lager

Brewery: The Flying Dutchman Nomad Brewing Company
Country: Finland(brewed in Belgium)
Style: Pale Lager
Abv: 5,2 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is clear straw yellow with a large white head. Aroma has mostly malts, some hay and a slice of lemon. Taste starts with dry malty bitterness. Stiff bready malts and tart citrus bitterness take over with some yeast hints. Towards the end dry pine and heavy grapefruit bitterness get on top. Aftertaste has lasting grapefruit-bitter malty dryness.

This brew gives what it promises. Starts as a malt-driven lager and turns to a gently bitter IPA - the finish combines some fine sides of both styles. Not a big fan of pale lagers but this beer works.

Ölbeat

There are three options in the brew's label: "strong minded", "brave hearted" and "bold as love". The chosen song has the title of the last one, but it owns the first two qualities as well. The colours in the song have been thought to correspond emotions: angry purple, envious green, quiet blue, happy turquoise, confident red, daring orange and frightened yellow. "And all these emotions of mine keep holding me from / Giving my life to a rainbow like you" tells about the storyteller's fear to express emotions to other colour (and emotion) showing people. The song fits the brew's mood nicely, since there is more than one side in the beer, too. 

Jimi Hendrix: Bold as Love (Vimeo)

From the 1967 album Axis: Bold as Love, the song was written by Jimi Hendrix.

Ölbeat 145: Schneider-Weisse TAP 5 Meine Hopfenweisse

Brewery: Schneider Weisse G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH (in German)
Country: Germany
Style: Weizenbock
Abv: 8,2 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is hazy golden yellow with a huge white head. Aroma has fresh citrus - lemon and orange -, wheat malts and floral notes. Taste starts with fresh semisweet citrus bite. Sweet and a bit sour mix of citrus fruits joins wheat malty body. Towards the end yeasty sour dryness comes through. Aftertaste has gently bitter dryness and sour lemon.

Fresh citrus of a fruity IPA mixed with wheaty and yeasty flavours of German wheats. Enriching experience but doesn't tickle as nicely as Aventinus from the same brewery. Doesn't get in the fruity heights of the tastiest IPA's, either. Good, tasty and faultless brew in any case.

Ölbeat

Classic fruity brew demands to be partnered with a classic rock ballad. Smooth bluesy guitar melodies, calming lyrics and the tingle of a glockenspiel make this song, by one of the greatest, a nice match.

Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing (Vimeo)

From the 1967 album Axis: Bold as Love, the song was written by Jimi Hendrix.